Accordion



(No Model.)

J. GALLEAZZI.

AGGORDION.

NO.v 566,269. Patented Aug. 18, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH GALLEAZZI, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

ACCORDION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,269, dated August18,1896. l Application led J'une 1.5, 1896. 4Serial No. 595,695. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern,.-Y

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GALLEAZZI, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, in the State of California, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Accordions and Similar Musical Instruments, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present improvement has reference to the invention for which I havebeen granted Letters Patent of the United States, No. 517,648, bearingdate April 3, 1894.

My object in making this improvement is to provide a novel and'superiormeansv for effecting the change from major to minor chords in the classof instruments aforesaid, so that such change may be accomplished withgreater accuracy and at the same time more rapidly and conveniently.

Referring tothe drawings hereto annexed, in which the same letters andnumerals as in my said patent are used to designate the saine parts orcorresponding details of construction, Figure l is a cross-sectionalview indicating how'the major chords are produced in my improvedaccordion. Fig. '2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line00x of Fig. l, looking to the left. Fig. 3 is a plan of the constructionillustrated at Fig. 2, the top of the instrument being removed. Fig. 4is a section similar tov Fig. 2, showinghow the change from a major to aminor chord is now effected; and Fig. 5 is a plan view simi'- lar toFig. 3, with certain detailsadded and others omitted.

As in my said patent, the letter A represents the box or that end of theaccordion containing the valves E E', that are used for producing thenotes in the bass clef,with'har- Inonic relations, as also the major andminor chords.

The valves E E can be opened together, two at a time, by meansv of thestuds or pistons F and the spring-pressed or spring-returned levers G,attached to the valves E, the levers G projecting under and beingadapted to raise the hooks g, affixed to the valves E. The bass notesand harmonic relations are heard when the valves E F. are thus openedtogether. No illustration of the joint Work ing ofthese two sets ofvalves is here given, as such is illustrated fully in my said patent. Itwill be noted, however, that the hook g has been given a. better andmore appropriate shape, as may be seen by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which also represent a more solid and substantial constructionof that particular part. v

` The valves E are opened three at a time, independently of the valvesE, in order to obtain major and minor chords by means of the studs orpistons F and levers G, each adapted to raise one series or set of threevalves and to effect a change in such series or set through the agencyof four rods i, secured to rockshafts AII and running under double hooksj and supplementary hooks I7", which by preference are given the shapeof a half-1noon or triangle, as shown.

The shafts I-I are laid in parallel grooves on a board I and suitablyattached thereto, as in my said patent, but the board I is no longermade movable, it being now screwed firmly in place above the valves E',which are hinged so as to oscillate under it together with their closingsprings e. Of the four rods i provided foreach rock-shaft one is made alittle longer than the others, as heretofore, so n it may be met bytheinner end of Vthe lever G', that lies opposite and thereby caused torock the shaft to which it belongs while lifting the hook j of the valvenext under it and opening said valve. As before also, the three other`rods t' of each shaft H are brought into action, two at a time, withthe longer rod to open the'two other valves required in each series forproducing the major and minor chords', but there isa change in themanner in which they are Aconnected with the valveraising hooks.Theb'oard I and shafts II thereon being no longer slidable endwise, theposition of the rods 1l becomes lixed or permanent with relation to thehooks upon which they operate, and therefore in changing from a major toa minor chord one of the rods is no longer drawn away from one of thehooks to leave out a valve and another rod brought under another hook topick upa dierent valve and thus effect a change in the series previouslyopened. There are now only two of the rods t on each rock-shaft, insteadof three before, that come or can come under the hooks j, the other tworods in each set passing under the supplementary hooks j', abovereferred to. A The hooks j are consequently IOO made shorter than in mypreviously-patented accordion, so as to cover but one rodi on each side,as will be understood by reference to the drawings. Their constructionhas also been modified in that they are provided with a semicircularhead,as shown,and their stem, which is in one piece with that of thehooks g, is riveted to the valves E instead of being soldered as before.This makes a more solid construction. Contrary to the fixed hooksj, thesupplemental hooks j" are made movable, that is, made'to be inclined toright and left, as may be required, in order to come into contact witheither one or the other of the uplifted rods 'L' in each set that arebeyond the ends of the fixed hooks, and in so doing to raise the thirdvalve required to produce either a major or a minor chord. Then inclinedas in Fig. 2, they will operate to give the major chords, and the minorchords when inclined as in Fig. 4t. The movable hooksj are rigidlysecured to one end of wires or rods jz, passed through suitable holes inthe semicircular heads of the fixed hooks j and in sin all bearing-platesjresting upon the board I, and they are inclined one way or theother by oscillating or rocking said wires within said heads and plates.The wiresj2 are thus moved from side to side, to work the hooksj, bymeans of a slide l, having notches t" engaged by the ends j* of saidwires, which are bent for this purpose. This slide is placed at 'asuitable height above the board I and is arranged to move endwise uponsmall blocks 'i2 under the heads of screws fis, passing through slotst4, with which said slide is provided, the screws t3 being adj usted toprevent lateral as well as upward displacement.

L, so that the hooks j" will normally be inclined all in the directionindicated at Fig. 2 and in the right position to secure the majorchords. The hooks j will be reversed, that is to say, inclined theopposite way, as in Fig. 4, by pushing the slide I back against itsspring, which is effected by means of a lever M, having one end engagedin a slot Z, in the slide I and its other end projecting outside the boxA under a thumb-piece N. Pressing upon the piece N causes the lever M toretract the slide I' and incline the hooks j' into the position requiredto obtain the minor chords,which are produced by pushing on the samepistons and levers as for the major chords, like in the accordionheretofore patented to me, the chords being varied by the reversiblehooks j sliding off one of the free rods t' and ascending upon anotherone instead, thereby dropping one valve and taking up another.

One of the illustrations given in explaining the operation of my saidpatent accordion will likewise make the working of the improved inst-rument clear. Thus,supposing that'lever G No. 2 be worked, by pushing onthe piston F', connected therewith, the long rod 'L' opposite will beraised and with it` valve E No. 2,

through its fixed hookj. Shaft H No. 2 being rocked upon the raising ofthe long rod fz', one of the three shorter rods carried by said shaftwill open valve E No. l by lifting the fixed hook j, under which it ispassed, and still another of the two remaining rods will raise valve E'No. l0, provided the slide I and hooks 7" be in the position representedat Fig. 2, for then the shiftable hook j,connected with the fixed hookglof the latter-named valve, can be reached and acted upon. This willgive, say, the chord of F sharp major. The minor chord is had throughthe same agencies, excepting the lever M is depressed by the thumb-pieceN to move out the slide I' and have the hooks j in the positionillustrated at Fig. at. In that case two of the rods vi will still raisethe saine valves Nos. l and 2 through their fixed hooks, but the rodthat previously lifted valve No. l0 being or getting out of reach of theadjacent hookj will leave or let the latter valve down, whereas thefourth rod, before free, will meet or be met by the hook j' next to itand raise valve E No. Then is had the chord of, say, F- sharp minor. Ifother pistons and levers be worked, other series of valves will beopened in the same mannerby other rods,rockshafts, vand hooks, anddifferent chords may be had, with similar variations; but it will benoted that in this new construction, as well as in the older one,boththe major and minor chords are obtained always by pushing the samepiston and working the samelever.

Thepeculiar advantage of the construction hereinabove set forth overthat disclosed in my said patent consists in that the change from themajor to the minor chords can now The slide I is pressed forward by aspring be effected without regard to the order in which the pistons orthe slide-shifting lever are worked.

It will be observed that in my patent accordion the valve-raising rodsc' must all be down when shifting the board that carries therock-shafts, so as to properly come under the valve-hooks, andconsequently the pistons must not be worked before the thumbpiece isdepressed when it is wanted to vary a chord. Otherwise some of the rodswill fail to perform their work and false notes are likelytobeheard. 0fcourse a trained player will not make a mistake, but in the handsof theinexperienced it is preferable to place an instrument requiring aslittle attention as possible in regard to the way the pistons andthumb-piece are to be relatively manipulated. Hence my presentimprovement. Vith my improved accordion it matters not which of thethumb-piece or a piston is worked first or last when varying a chord,since theposition of the valve-opening rods does not change, and theinclined hooks will perform their functions just as well whether therods i are up or down or in the act of being raised and lowered.

To avoid confusion, I have shown in the annexed drawings but one shaftIl as being pro- IOO IIO

vided with rods z'. It will be understood, however, that they are allprovided, as in my said patent, with four rods each, two of which nowcome under fixed hooks j and the other two pass by or within reach ofshiftable hooks .7. I have shown the said shafts Hin the same order asthey appear in said patent, bearing the same numbers, &c; but thisarrangement inay be changed or modified, if desired, the only requisitebeing that the rods i' be of the proper length to reach the hooks andvalves upon which they are to operate. For the sake of clearness also Ihave dispensed with showing all the valves and operating-hooks andconnections to be found in the complete accordion, only those partsnecessary to understand the drift of my improvement having beenillustrated.

Having now described my new improvement, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In an instrument of the character described, the combination of avalve operated by lever or key, auxiliary valves connectible therewithin different sets, valve raising hooks and connections, and means forreversing certain hooks whereby the valve connections are changed andvariations in the sets of auxiliary valves effected, substantially asset forth.

2. In an instrument of the character described, the combination of avalve operated by a lever or key, auxiliary valves, fixed and movablehooks and rods uniting one set of said auxiliary valves with saidfirst-named valve, and a shifter for said movable hooks making a changein said set, substantially as described.

3. In an instrument of the character described, the combination of aseries of valves, fixed and reversible hooks connected therewith,operating-pistons,levers connected with said pistons, a series of rodsengaging over lsaid levers and also under said hooks and con- J.GALLEAZZI. [L s] Vitnesses:

CHAs. D. WHEAT, A. H. STE. MARIE.

